The debate over AI ‘doomsday’ warnings

Debate explodes over AI ‘doomsday’ warnings

A former Anthropic researcher’s warning that AI could soon destroy humanity broke past the typical tech circles last week, setting off a new firestorm of debate over the technology’s rapid development.

Researchers have warned of AI’s potential danger for years, but nothing struck a chord quite like this week’s X thread from 27-year-old Jacob Coxon , a little-known AI researcher who resigned from Anthropic last week.

Coxon, who worked at OpenAI and Anthropic, claimed in a post online that researchers at the firms “believe AI could kill all humans” but still push forward in a race to develop superintelligence — a hypothetical AI agent that outperforms all humans’ cognitive performance.

Coxon’s assessment went viral with over 165 million views and within a few hours, the debate over AI’s long-term implications was no longer confined within the technology community.

Amid the media frenzy, many tech outsiders were left wondering exactly how AI could destroy humanity. The answer is not fully known, though researchers like Coxon say AI’s pace of development offers hints.

Connor Leahy, an AI researcher leading the non-profit ControlAI that argues for ending development of superintelligence, said in an interview with The Hill he believes these agents will be entirely autonomous and “pursue their own objectives,” without human beings in mind.

“There won’t just be one superintelligence,” Leahy told The Hill Thursday. “There will be millions of them running around, competing with each other, competing with humanity for resources, power, influence.”

While Coxon’s warnings reached unlikely audiences, the underlying debate is nothing new for the tech sector. It is also no closer to a resolution.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter , we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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